Greek Islands.

On South Meridian Street, in the shadow of Lucas Stadium sits The Greek Islands. A bright blue building that has a rep for serving great Greek grub. Today we had a guest. A young man named Isaiah. He’s never had Greek food before and since their Devour Downtown special was 2 special lunches for $30 it worked out great.

Pat ordered Saganaki as an appetizer; $7.50. I tried to get a shot of the flaming cheese but I wasn’t fast enough. As a matter of fact they served 6 or 8 orders while we were there and I never could get my camera up fast enough. Pat’s shot did catch the sizzle though.

This is the Devour Downtown two for $30 lunch special. Perfect for someone who has never had Greek food before.

We opted for hummus. There was quite a bit more pita bread in the beginning; but we started eating before the picture. I thought the hummus was excellent. Creamy and full of garlic flavor. Some of the best I’ve had.

The place was super busy when we arrived, we had a wait for a table. I don’t think that has ever happened before. As a result the service was a little sluggish. Sometimes, somethings can not be helped. As a result the house substituted a salad for the soups.

The salad was ho-hum. The dressing was good and they used white onion, which I prefer over the typical red.

When the entrée arrived it was a huge platter of food.

The veggies were passable, not great, not bad. Green beans with tomatoes, and rice. I enjoy rice as a component of a dish but as a general rule rice doesn’t stand on its own too well. Mama Fofo’s potatoes were pretty good. Oven crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The Pistachio was pretty good ,a little on the mild side but the bechamel topping was fantastic. Light and fluffy, yet slightly firm like a fine custard, or pudding. The gyro meat had a nice seasoning and texture. But the king of the gyro set was the tzatziki. Rich and thick with a great taste of garlic and cucumber. The tiropita had a nice tasting filling but it was a wee bit dry. I think that may be a holding problem as much as anything.

The only bad thing I can say about this joint was the baklava. We shared one piece and it was pretty bad. Hard and dry. All the honey had soaked through and bottomed out. Turning into a hard candy shell. But it was hardly a deal breaker to me. It is still worth a visit.

3 responses

I’ve had hummus and some of those other things, but I’ve never actually been to a Greek restaurant, so I would probably need to order that sampler platter as well. I’d be willing to try it. Too bad about the baklava; I have had that before. Now this was a mean tease: “But the king of the gyro set was the . ” What was it??